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Candyman (character)
Candyman}} | image = | caption = Tony Todd as the Candyman in Candyman (1992) | first = Literature: The Forbidden (1985) Film: Candyman (1992) | creator = Clive Barker | portrayer = Tony Todd | alias = Candyman The Sweet | species = Boogeyman / ghost (formerly human) | significant_other = Caroline Sullivan (lover) Helen Lyle (reincarnation of lover) | lbl21 = Descendants | data21 = * Isabel Sullivan (daughter) * Octavia Tarrant (great-granddaughter) * Annie Tarrant (great-great-granddaughter) * Ethan Tarrant (great-great-grandson) * Caroline McKeever (great-great-great-granddaughter, reincarnation of daughter) | lbl31 = Year of birth | data31 = Ca 1865 | lbl32 = Primary locations | data32 = * Cabrini–Green, Chicago, Illinois * New Orleans, Louisiana * Los Angeles, California | lbl33 = Signature weapon(s) | data33 = * Prothestic hook * Spectral bees }} Daniel Robitaille, colloquially known as the Candyman, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Candyman'' series of films, originating from Clive Barker's 1985 short story The Forbidden. In the film series he is portrayed as the vengeful ghost of an African-American man who was brutally lynched for a forbidden interracial love affair in the 19th century, and will haunt and kill anyone who calls the name of Candyman before a mirror five times in a row, but sometimes also targets those who openly deny the urban legend of his continued existence as a ghost. He is portrayed in Candyman (1992), Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999) by actor Tony Todd, who is set to reprise the role in the upcoming Candyman (2020). Appearances Literature Before the film adaptions, the character of Candyman originated from the short story The Forbidden from the anthology collection Books of Blood by Clive Barker. According to the story, the description of the Candyman's appearance is as follows: :He was bright to the point of gaudiness: his flesh a waxy yellow, his thin lips pale blue, his wild eyes glittering as if their irises were set with rubies. His jacket was a patchwork his trousers the same. He looked, Helen thought, almost ridiculous, with his bloodstained motley, and the hint of rouge on his jaundiced cheeks. The literary version's face is described as "lurid" and "jaundiced", while his scent was like candy-floss. The iconic hook and bees are introduced in the short story, as well as other characters such as Helen, but Candyman's race, name, place of origin or backstory are never brought up and is introduced with the film series. The element of summoning him by saying 'Candyman' in front of a mirror is also absent; the mere doubt of his existence is enough to draw him forth. Films Candyman's first appearance in film is in Candyman (1992), in which female protagonist Helen Lyle is investigating an urban legend revolving around an enigmatic figure known only as the Candyman, which seem connected to a series of grisly murders in the vicinity of Cabrini–Green, Chicago, where at least 26 victims have been ripped open "from groin to gullet" by an unknown perpetrator who leaves no trace behind but the body. The denizens of the city block all seem convinced that the "Candyman" is behind it, a specter who can supposedly be summoned by repeating his name five times in front of a mirror and is reported to have a large metal hook in place of one hand. Helen is left in doubt of this after encountering a very living gangster having adopted the alias of Candyman to intimidate others; he assaults Helen, who after this concludes that the stories she has heard are nothing more than fairytales. This vocal denial of Candyman finally brings the actual ghost of Candyman out. He reveals himself to Helen, claiming that since she doubted his existence, he must now shed innocent blood to keep the myth of himself alive. He slaughters the dog of and kidnaps the baby boy of resident Anne-Marie McCoy as well as brutally murdering Helen's friend and colleague Bernadette, framing Helen for those acts. Candyman boasts of how everyone she loves, including her husband Trevor, will abandon her, and that surrendering herself to him and becoming part of his urban legend will be her only option now. Helen is institutionalized, but Candyman slaughters her psychiatrist and allows her to leave the facility. Helen, returning to Cabrini–Green, discovers that she may be the reincarnation of the former human Candyman's lover, explaining why he would target her in particular. She eventually discovers the missing baby in a bonfire, but the residents, having seen Candyman in it, comes out in a mob to burn the murderer. Caught in the fire, Helen manages to save the baby for Anne-Marie, but at the cost of her own life. Trevor, attempting to "summon" Helen by repeating her name five times in front of a mirror, unexpectedly succeeds and is brutally butchered by her, revealing that she has in fact become part of the Candyman's deadly legend now. Candyman appears again in the sequel Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) three years after Helen's death, where he slaughters professor Philip Purcell who appeared in the first film and the novel and is supposedly a leading authority on the urban legend of the Candyman; he is however unconvinced that the legend has any supernatural element to it, such that he tries to prove it wrong by saying Candyman five times in the mirror of his own glossy book. This leads to his gruesome death by the Candyman shortly after. Ethan Tarrant, a descendant of Candyman himself, is made a suspect of this crime due to carelessly having made apparent threats against the professor publicly just before his murder, while also having no alibi. Development Concept and creation }} The backstory of Candyman being the son of a slave and a painter who became the lover of a wealthy landowners daughter was not present in The Forbidden, nor the name of Daniel Robitaille. As soon as Tony Todd and his co-star Virginia Madsen were cast as Candyman and Helen respectively, Bernard Rose, director of Candyman (1992), gave them free hands to flesh out their character's backstories themselves as part of the creative process. Rose explains that "Candyman is not black in Clive's story. In fact the whole back story of the interracial love affair that went wrong is not in the book. Everything that's in the book is in the film but it's been amplified." Todd then came up with the character's backstory during rehearsals with Madsen. The name Todd designated for the character was "Granville T. Candyman" who had a forbidden, interracial love affair with a white woman he was painting a portrait of, leading to his fatal lynching by an angry mob. The name of Granville was never used in the first film, leaving the character still nameless; the name that was ultimately designated for him in the sequel would be Daniel Robitaille. This backstory was supposedly set in Chicago; the element of New Orleans was added with the Farewell to the Flesh. Characterization The Candyman is largely driven by a need to sustain his legacy, killing those who doubt his spectral existence in order to ensure that the rumor of him is kept alive. He has been described as a "ghoul fueled by the “faith” of his believers, he is forced to deal with his followers to make them believe again — and punish the interloper who has led them astray." In Draculas, Vampires, and Other Undead Forms: Essays on Gender, Race and Culture, the Candyman's nature is likened to a vampire, elaborating that similar to vampires: "Candyman possesses the capacity to hypnotize his prey, such that they appear to desire their victimizations" Tony Todd compares his ability to invoke fear, suggestion and seduction to the DC Comics villain Scarecrow. He also compares his character to the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame in that they are all "monsters" who use both tenderness and terror to win the (unanswered) love of the female protagonists. Virginia Madsen has confirmed that Candyman was intended by to be a "African American Dracula", adding that she think it's "appealing to the African American community because they had finally their own Dracula". He has been compared specifically to Gary Oldman's Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), being "not only dark, but tall and handsome; a (literally) tortured artist; and a hopeless romantic, very much in the mould of Gary Oldman's Dracula". Bernard Rose has also claimed that the biblical story of Samson was an inspiration for Candyman's story, elaborating that "Samson dismayed his parents by taking a Philistine wife, pausing only to slay the young lion whose carcass then bred bees and ran with honey; Candyman outraged bigots by his love for a white woman, and was murdered by being smeared with honey and staked out for the killer bees." In Day of the Dead it is established that the lynch mob chanted his soubriquet of Candyman five times before he died, explaining why he would appear at that count. The element of summoning the specter by chanting has name repeatedly in front of a mirror can be traced back to the urban legend of Bloody Mary. In the short story, the character describes his state of existence as an urban legend, saying "I am rumour. It's a blessed condition, believe me. To live in people's dreams; to be whispered at street-corners; but not have to be", while the film version says "I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Without these things, I am nothing". Reception Candyman was 9th on both Fandango and Bloody Disgusting's list of top 10 slasher icons, and 8th on an older Bloody Disgusting list. Based on poll-based reader input, Rolling Stone listed him as tenth among horror villains. Joblo.com has Candyman as fifth on their list of horror boogeymen, while ComingSoon.net has him as seventh on their list of slasher villains. Merchandise McFarlane Toys released an action figure of the Candyman in the Movie Maniacs Series 4 in 2001. Further action figures are set to be released in November 2019 by NECA. See also * List of horror film villains Notes References External links * Candyman at Villains Wiki * Candyman at Horror Film Wiki * Candyman at The Candyman Wiki Category:Horror film villains Category:Candyman (film series) characters Category:Clive Barker characters Category:Characters in short stories Category:Literary villains Category:Interracial romance in fiction Category:Fictional amputees Category:Fictional bees Category:Fictional illusionists Category:Fictional hypnotists Category:Fictional kidnappers Category:Fictional lynching victims Category:Fictional murdered people Category:Fictional stalkers Category:Fictional painters Category:Fictional serial killers Category:Fictional mass murderers Category:Fictional ghosts Category:Fictional undead Category:Fictional centenarians Category:Fictional African-Americans Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength Category:Fictional characters who can teleport Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1985